Middle East

U.S. Designates Muslim Brotherhood Branches in Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon as 'Terror' Groups

This is Beirut 13/01 21:20 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Lebanon Donald Trump Hamas United States US Secretary of State

The United States designated three Middle Eastern branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations on Tuesday, including on the group’s Egyptian, Jordanian, and Lebanese branches, alleging they pose a threat to U.S. interests. The State Department designated the Lebanese branch as a "foreign terrorist organization" (FTO), the most ...

German Chancellor Says Iranian Regime Likely Living its ‘Last Days’

This is Beirut 13/01 11:15 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Europe European Union

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Tuesday said he believes Iran’s regime is living out its last days, as pressure grows on the Islamic Republic over protests that have reportedly killed hundreds of people. “When a regime can only hold on to power through violence, then it is effectively finished,” Merz tells reporters in Bengaluru, during ...

Iran Allows Overseas Calls as Death Toll From Protests Mounts

This is Beirut 13/01 11:00 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Tehran

Iranians could call abroad on mobile phones Tuesday for the first time since communications were halted during a crackdown on nationwide protests in which activists said at least 646 people have been killed. However, the regime did not ease restrictions on the internet or allow texting services to be restored. Although Iranians were able to ...

Trump Cancels Meetings With Iranian Officials, Tells Protesters 'Help is on Its Way'

This is Beirut 13/01 09:50 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Iran Trump IranProtests USIran HumanRights

President Trump said Tuesday he's canceled talks with Iranian officials amid a protest crackdown, telling Iranian citizens "help is on its way." Trump did not offer any details about what the help would entail, but it comes after the Republican president earlier this week said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington. "Iranian Patriots, KEEP ...

Trump Announces 25% Tariff on Countries Doing Business With Iran

This is Beirut 13/01 09:25 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Donald Trump Tehran United Arab Emirates USA Washington

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced fresh tariffs on Iran's trading partners in an apparent response to the rising number of people killed during recent protests. In a post on Truth Social, President Trump wrote that any country "doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran" will pay a 25% tariff "effective ...

Aleppo Unrest was Kurdish Fighters' Bid to Wreck Turkey Peace Process: Erdogan's Party

This is Beirut 13/01 09:20 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Damascus Turkey

Recent deadly clashes in Syria's Aleppo were an attempt by Kurdish fighters to sabotage Turkey's efforts to end a decades-long conflict with the Kurdish militant PKK group, Ankara's ruling party said Monday. "The YPG/SDF terrorist organisation's attacks and the operation in Aleppo... is an attempt to sabotage the goal of a ...

Hamas to Hold Leadership Elections in Coming Months: Sources

This is Beirut 13/01 09:10 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Hamas Banks Fatah Israel Kuwait

Hamas is preparing to hold internal elections to rebuild its leadership following Israel's killing of several of the group's top figures during the war in Gaza, sources in the movement said on Monday. "Internal preparations are still ongoing in order to hold the elections at the appropriate time in areas where conditions on the ...

UN Force Says Israeli Tank Fired Near Peacekeepers in Lebanon

This is Beirut 13/01 09:05 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Lebanon United Nations Hezbollah Israel UN Security Council

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said an Israeli tank fired near its peacekeepers on Monday, and warned that such attacks were becoming "disturbingly common". UNIFIL has repeatedly reported Israeli fire near or towards its personnel in recent months, and less than two weeks ago said gunfire from an Israeli position hit close ...

Aoun Urges Hezbollah to “Act Rationally”, Reaffirming State Monopoly on Weapons

This is Beirut 13/01 08:50 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Lebanon Hezbollah JosephAoun LebaneseArmy Israel

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun delivered one of his clearest and most direct statements to date on Hezbollah’s arms on Sunday, urging the militia to “act rationally” and fully integrate into the Lebanese state. In a televised interview marking the second anniversary of his election, Aoun laid out his vision for restoring state ...

Iran Protest Toll Mounts as Government Stages Mass Rallies

This is Beirut 12/01 21:35 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Iran Ali Khamenei Protest United States

A violent crackdown on a wave of protests in Iran has killed at least 648 people, a rights group said on Monday, as Iranian authorities sought to regain control of the streets with mass nationwide rallies. The government's call for rallies in support of the Islamic republic drew thousands on Monday, a turnout supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ...

Op-edAfter Khamanei: What the Fall of Iran’s Regime Would Mean for the Region

Hussain Abdul-Hussain 12/01 16:25 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Benjamin Netanyahu Lebanon Hezbollah Israel USA Iran

The fall of Iran's Islamist regime would mark one of the most seismic shifts in Middle Eastern geopolitics since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that brought it to power. As massive protests grip the country, sparked by economic collapse and hyperinflation, the prospect of regime change grows more tangible. Unlike the 1979 revolution, which ushered ...

FM Raggi Denounces Hamas, Hezbollah Presence in Lebanon

This is Beirut 12/01 15:20 - Reading : less than a minute

Raggi Lebanon Hamas Hezbollah Araghchi Iran

Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi delivered a firm message to his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, denouncing the involvement of Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon, in an interview with Sky News Arabia on Monday. According to Raggi, Hamas’s support for the war brought Lebanon “destruction, death, and suffering,” noting that the ...